Two NSUI leaders sacked for opposing 'Gandhigiri'

The student leaders were sacked in Madhya Pradesh for defying party line by opposing Munnabhai's `Gandhigiri'.

indiaUpdated: Sep 19, 2006 16:24 IST

Indo-Asian News Service None

Two district presidents of the Congress affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI) were sacked onTuesday in Madhya Pradesh and a many others issued show cause notices for defying party line by opposing Munnabhai's`Gandhigiri'.

Taking a serious note of NSUI activists defying the party line merely for the sake of publicity, All India Congress Committee reportedly faxed a message on Monday asking the state Congress to take strict action.

"The party's state unit has issued show notices to the NSUI activists indulging in protest demonstrations against the film and action would be taken after receiving their replies," state Congress General Secretary and party spokesman Manak Agrawal said.

NSUI state President Hemant Wagdre said Jabalpur and Indore district presidents, Ambarish Mishra and Deepak Chhabra respectively, were sacked while show cause notices served on others.

"I have issued show cause notices to a dozen NSUI workers and terminated two presidents. We are also demanding from the state government to declare the film tax-free in Madhya Pradesh," he said.

'Gandhigiri', the term referring to the antics of lovable rogue Munnabhai in the latest Bollywood hit "Lage Raho Munnabhai", has angered some activists of the Congress's student wing even as the party praised the film at its working committee meet.

Congress governments in Delhi and Maharashtra have exempted the film from entertainment tax.

Describing the term as disrespectful towards the Father of the Nation, NSUI activists staged a protest demonstration in IndoreonSaturday and in Jabalpur on Sunday, demanding deletion of the word 'Gandhigiri' from the Sanjay Dutt-starrer hit and threatened to disrupt the shows if their demand was not met.